Christopher Praises Belarus on Nuclear Issue

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

Published: October 27, 1993

MINSK, Belarus, Oct. 26—
Secretary of State Warren Christopher came to this capital of broad boulevards today and praised its leaders for taking "historic steps" to remove nuclear weapons from their territory.

His message was as much an embrace of Belarus as it was a signal to Ukraine, whose leaders told Mr. Christopher on Monday that they were committed to making their country nuclear-free, but whose Parliament has not yet ratified the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or agreed to adhere to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The former Soviet republic of Belarus, by contrast, signed both agreements this year, and has already actively begun to dismantle and destroy its nuclear weapons.

"The United States very highly values the historic steps Belarus has taken to remove nuclear weapons left on its soil by the Soviet Union," Mr. Christopher said at a joint news conference with Stanislav Shushkevich, who holds the positions of both head of state and speaker of the Parliament.

Mr. Christopher said Belarus "serves as a shining example to states around the region" because of actions, which he said have won the "gratitude of the entire world community."

Mr. Christopher also announced that the leaders of Belarus had informed him that they would hold early elections in March, earlier than expected.

Until today, leaders had pledged to hold parliamentary elections, but had not set a deadline. Mr. Christopher called that decision a "sharp acceleration" of the country's movement toward democracy, although a final decision is up to Parliament.

The remnants of the Communist era are evident in Minsk, a city of 1.6 million people where a statue of Lenin still graces Independence Square. A huge white canvas covers a Mount Rushmore-like marble head of Mr. Lenin behind the stage in the auditorium of the former headquarters of the Communist Party.

The Communist Party continues to dominate both the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. And the country has even adopted the Soviet national anthem as its own, minus the words.

One of the most conservative republics under Soviet rule, Belarus is still heavily dependent on Russia, which supplies 70 percent of its imports. But Mr. Shushkevich has fought efforts by Prime Minister Vyachelsav Kebich and Parliament to align his country's foreign policy with Moscow and join a Russian-led defense pact.

Today Mr. Shushkevich thanked the United States for offering help with his country's elections and for proposing a plan that would give Eastern Europe a "partnership" role in NATO.

Although he said that his country was determined to move toward democracy, he added, "The United States should understand why the political reforms and the economic reforms are very slow in this process."

Asked how long it would take to rid his country of nuclear weapons, he said it was "difficult to say," although he added that his country was eager to become nuclear-free.

Belarus has dismantled 9 of its 72 SS-25 missiles under the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and is pledged to speed up the disposal of the others. It has already received $59 million in American aid for dismantling.

In exchange for proceeding with disarmament, Belarus asked earlier this month for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.